Global shares dip from recent highs, euro gains

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A man uses a mobile phone in front of an electronic board displaying market indices from around the world, outside a brokerage in Tokyo October 17, 2012.
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People stand on the balcony above the DAX board at the Frankfurt stock exchange January 9, 2013.
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Traders are pictured at their desks in front of the DAX board at the Frankfurt stock exchange January 4, 2013.
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Electronic information boards display market information at the London Stock Exchange in the City of London January 2, 2013.
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Japan's Nikkei share average on an electronic board is seen between Women, dressed in ceremonial kimonos, after the New Year opening ceremony at the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) in Tokyo January 4, 2013.
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NEW YORK The euro hit an 11-month high against the dollar on Monday on fading prospects of an interest rate cut in Europe, while world equity markets ticked lower following gains that took them to more than one-year highs.

U.S. investors took profits in a thinly traded day as they awaited an onslaught of corporate earnings reports, which many analysts worry will be weak following the uncertainty from the recent fiscal impasse in Washington.

While U.S. and European equity markets were mostly lower, shares in China .SSEC soared 3.2 percent, advancing to a 52-week high on strength in financial and property companies, which rose on a report that the roll-out of a pilot property tax scheme could be delayed.

Apple Inc (AAPL.O), the most valuable U.S. company, added to the earnings concerns after a report it had cut orders for LCD screens and other parts for the iPhone 5 this quarter due to weak demand. The stock fell 3.6 percent to $501.75, weighing on the broader market as one of the S&P 500's biggest decliners.

"I think there's going to be more misses than hits in terms of revenue and margins. It's going to be a little bit light this earnings season compared to the last one," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital in New York.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI gained 18.89 points, or 0.14 percent, to end at 13,507.32. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX was down 1.37 points, or 0.09 percent, at 1,470.68. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC was down 8.13 points, or 0.26 percent, at 3,117.50.

The euro was up 0.3 percent at $1.3382, having hit a high of $1.3404 earlier for a hefty 2.5 percent jump since European Central Bank President Mario Draghi dampened expectations of further monetary policy easing in the near term. The dollar's value against a basket of major currencies .DXY floated around its lowest levels since the start of the year.

Europe's FTSE Eurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 of top companies closed down 0.3 percent, though it remains near a two-year high. The MSCI International ACWI price index of global shares .MIWD00000PUS was flat but still near an 18-month high.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, in comments after the market closed on Monday, said Washington still had a lot to do in order to pare long-term U.S. debt. He also urged U.S. lawmakers to raise the country's debt ceiling to avoid a potentially disastrous default on its debt.

Equity futures did not move on his comments, though bond prices edged up. The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note was up 4/32, the yield at 1.8518 percent.

GROWTH HOPES

Equity markets have risen and most major currencies have gained against the dollar so far this year after U.S. lawmakers struck a deal on taxes, easing fears of a sudden fiscal tightening that would slow the economy.

Chicago Federal Reserve Bank chief Charles Evans, a voting member of the Fed's policymaking committee this year, underlined the better outlook by forecasting the U.S. economy would grow 2.5 percent in 2013 and 3.5 percent in 2014.

Evans added that markets could be confident the U.S. central bank would take action to boost the recovery without letting inflation take hold, although he did not refer to any more Fed easing, which would weaken the dollar further.

In another sign of an improving U.S. outlook, U.S.-based equity mutual funds posted their biggest weekly inflow in more than 11 years last week, a sign that stocks are coming back into favor. The S&P 500 is up 3.1 percent thus far in 2013.

The picture overseas has also been brighter, with a pick-up in Chinese data and Japan, the third-largest economy, embarking on a new strategy to lift itself out of recession. The move weakened the yen substantially but boosted Tokyo stocks.

YEN SINKS

The Japanese yen was slightly lower at 89.44 yen against the dollar, rebounding off a 2-1/2-year low on expectations that a round of aggressive monetary easing is coming soon in Japan.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reiterated on Sunday his calls for the Bank of Japan to set a 2 percent inflation target and pursue bolder monetary easing to end nearly two decades of deflation.

Abe, who has already announced a huge budget stimulus for the Japanese economy, said he would appoint a new head of the central bank who shares his views when Governor Masaaki Shirakawa's term ends in April.

"The confirmation that there's going to be a push for a new governor (and) that new governor is going to have a mandate of 2 percent inflation - that plus the fiscal stimulus is a major negative for the yen," said Callum Henderson, global head of FX research for Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore.

Tokyo markets .225 were closed on Monday for a holiday but MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS rose 0.5 percent on the statement, holding near a 17-month peak set on Friday.

COMMODITIES RECOVER

The growing optimism on the outlook for the world's biggest economies helped commodity prices recover from last week's decline. Oil also benefited from a resurfacing of fears about a disruption of supply from the Middle East.

A cut in Saudi Arabian production last month, pipeline sabotage in Yemen and a weather-related drop in Iraqi shipments have reduced output. Fighting in Syria and Iranian naval exercises in the strategically important Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Gulf have reminded investors of the risk of wider disruption to Middle East supply. <O/R>

Brent crude gained 1.1 percent to $111.88 a barrel, jumping in afternoon trading as investors weighed a statement from Saudi Arabia disputing claims OPEC's largest producer has altered its output policy. U.S. light crude was up 0.7 percent at $94.25.

Copper edged down 0.5 percent to $8,000.15 a tonne while gold rose modestly.

(Additional reporting by Leah Schnurr; editing by Dan Grebler and James Dalgleish)

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